NFC Ring featured on MSN Video; Windows Phone app due soon

We’ve previously covered the successful Kickstarter project for the NFC Ring, a metal band that gives you a two-sided method to transfer data. If the Kickstarter project hit a certain threshold to raise funds, they would make a Windows Phone app and they have done just that.

Now, MSN Video has released a nice five-minute video, hosted by Kate Russell, showcasing how the device works, including practical applications in real life situations. A little after the three minute mark, you can see a Nokia Lumia 925 being used to demonstrate the accompanying app, which you use to write instructions to the ring.

While Windows Phone users can’t use the ring to unlock their phones due to OS restrictions, they can easily use it to launch apps, share public data like contact details, make Bitcoin payments, or unlock doors. It’s a fascinating piece of technology and while everyone may not see the need for it, we think wearable tech is the next big thing to happen after the smartphone craze dies down.

In the weekly NFC Ring newsletter, we’re told that “The Windows Phone app will hopefully be approved next week, it's taking some time...”. The rings themselves aren’t due for a few more weeks either as they undergo final testing, including water resistance analysis, but when they do hit, the Windows Phone app should be ready as well.

We’ve contributed to the project so we should be able to give a proper tour and review of the NFC Ring when it becomes available.

Watch the MSN Video embedded (note: may not play on mobile devices); Thanks, Theo, for the tip!

Windows Phone 8 was supposed to enable NFC payments through your SIM card tied to your carrier. I haven't heard anything about it since they announced that it would come to Orange in France and then slowly roll out after that back when WP8 was announced.

I can't wait until this becomes a bit more seamless to pay for things. It's just right now you have to go out of your way to do anything NFC related. Such a chore :/
NFC should be ubiquitous if companies want this to become mainstream.

I would love to have something like that would be required to use the phone. Basically, the ring has to be within 4 or 5 feet of the phone for the phone to work. I think there is something else like that on the market (using a different wirless tech) but nothing for WP (not technically possible yet).

If you pay with your wireless credit card in shop, you're not using NFC technology. These credit cards are using contactless smartcard technology (which is similar, but not the same).
If you want to pay with your NFC mobile phone, you have to have "secure element", which is something like secure SIM card (so your NFC phone <X=contract=X> your phone operator <X=contract=X> your bank = so many permutations => you will wait ages to get it ). And finaly after that, your secure SIM card (which is actually contact smart card ) can use NFC to be contactless.
Android OS supports secure elements integrated in your phone, so it's much easier to get it work (and I think, that this is the right way).
I hope that Windows phone 8.1 will support more NFC and secure element functionality, because in 8.0 it's really poor.

These "contactless" cards are a farce lol, the card has to touch the machine for payment and cannot wave it i.e a few cm away. Have had a spate of businesses to come in to demo their "contactless" payment systems but with all of them the card has to be in "contact" with the card reader to authenticate lol.

You should have at least 10 rings on all fingers to do all those actions mentioned. But then what happens when you forget which ring is for what, or what if s.o. steal it. I'm so not paying or unlocking with that chunk

thieves used to steal ur keys, now i think they just wanna chop off ur fingers...lol...
i think its a nice add-on but dont think it can totally replace manual stuff. Imagine all sudden u lost ur ring or the nfc gone cuckoo when u reach ur home. Asking a lock smith to unlock a conventional lock definitely easier n costs less but with a electronic one i believe u gotta be very well prepared of ur wallet.

Why should we use bit coin when we can use our wallet?
We all have wallet built into the phone...loading the ring seems pretty pointless! Now if it were able to be better intermediary between phone and payments then yeah. This is where this tech needs to go before watches beat them to it.